08.31.20
Gemini version available ♊︎The Linux Kernel Needs to Reject Rust for the Same Reason Linus Torvalds Rejects GitHub (Where Rust is Hosted and Developed)
Summary: Developing frameworks on Microsoft servers is a very bad idea (it has also led to censorship of Microsoft critics); this is the last thing Linux needs to become dependent on at this stage
MOST of the code I’ve written in my lifetime is C code. C is relatively easy (compared to C++, which I mostly dislike). The above video, which isn’t terribly old, is Torvalds’ response to a question regarding using more programming languages in the kernel.
“This is not a new problem and we’ve written about it a number of times, including this past summer.”Lately we’ve been posting in Daily Links about half a dozen links about efforts to put Rust inside the kernel (search for “Rust Linux” or similar). Putting aside Mozilla’s fiscal woes (it plans to turn Rust into a foundation, just like Mozilla itself), Rust has an issue with free speech and it’s too friendly towards Microsoft or towards proprietary software (need proprietary software like GitHub to contribute and communicate; Mozilla is OK with DRM!). This is not a new problem and we’ve written about it a number of times before, including this past summer. This predates severe actions by overzealous Reddit moderators; some contributors expressed concerns about the project’s CoC, which they thought accomplished the opposite of inclusiveness (excluding people with particular viewpoints, technical or otherwise, fostering groupthink instead).
For a number of years we’ve ‘lobbied’ Rust to “delete GitHub,” but the project never listened. Instead the project seems to have warmed up further… to Microsoft. Just like the Linux Foundation, which nowadays outsources almost all the code to Microsoft.
That’s of course just my personal opinion and I unapologetically stick with it. Over the years I saw a number of other things that worried me, both in the Rust ‘community’ and its steward (Mozilla). This sort of extra ‘politics’ isn’t what will benefit Linus and Linux. Heck, maybe in the future they can hypothetically find some way to sanction Linus/Linux over his/its use or supposed misuse of language/programming language (words like “master” in Linux or curse words from Linus). In the Debian talk/Q&A he was asked about curse words; he said he had rejected mannerism/politics (cultural differences) or political correctness games; guess what happened shortly afterwards and remember who the enforcers typically are. █
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